The present invention relates to a rotary powered shaving system and, more particularly, to a rotary powered dynamic shaving system providing multidirectional cutting during shaving.
In general, two types of shaving are commonly practiced: dry shaving and wet shaving. Traditionally, electric shavers of either the rotary type or the reciprocating type are used for dry shaving. In this regard, the dry shaver's cutters are separated from the skin and whiskers by a facial guard such that the whiskers are removed by a shearing action. The closeness of such shearing action is generally limited to the thickness of the facial guard.
Typically, the razor units employed for wet-shaving have been manually operated. These wet-shaving razor units have generally been capable of providing closer shaves because the absence of a facial guard permits intimate contact between the blade edge and the hair or whiskers to be shaved. However, the manual stroking operation of the traditional wet-shaving razor unit may present more difficulty in fully shaving whiskers that extend in random direction. Additionally, the manual stroking operation is generally more time-consuming.
A rotatable safety razor that overcomes several of the drawbacks associated with wet-shaving razor units yet, at the same time, maintains the advantages of wet-shaving razor units is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,010. The blades of the '010 device, however, are fixed to the rotatable head, i.e., the blades are not free to float. The '010 device also lacks a guard bar, which assists in guiding the skin to the cutting edge of the blade.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a rotary powered dynamic shaving system providing multidirectional cutting during shaving. Ideally, such a shaving system would include at least one blade displaceably positioned in the rotatable head of the shaving system, thereby providing a degree of "float" to the blade that allows the blade to follow the various contours of the skin and, in turn, substantially reducing the propensity of the device to nick the skin during shaving.